1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for the bed of trucks and, more particularly, apparatus for organizing and stabilizing different types of loads and different sizes of loads in truck beds.
2. Description of Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,730, the patentee of which is the inventor hereof, discloses apparatus for organizing and stabilizing various size loads on the beds of pickup trucks. The apparatus includes a frame on which there are pivoting elements that extend into cutout portions of the frame. The pivoting elements are in their "down" and nested position until they are needed to stabilize or to organize the loads. When needed, and as needed, one or more of the pivoting elements may be moved to a vertical position.
The apparatus of the '730 patent utilizes a base element of a finite thickness, and the pivoting elements nest into the base. The apparatus of the present invention simplifies the '730 patent by obviating the necessity of hardware such as springs and other metallic assemblage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,697,631 (Miller) discloses a truck bed in which there is a partition which is movable for securing a load in a specific portion of the truck bed. The apparatus is secured to the upper portions of the vehicle sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,376 (Hunter) discloses a load restraining panel for a pickup truck in which the panel is movable on a pair of parallel rails secured to the bed of the truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,298 (Bott) discloses apparatus similar to that of the '376 (Hunter) patent in that a pair of spaced apart rails extending longitudinally on the bed of a truck are used as base elements for a vertical panel that is secured to clamps movable along the rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,033 (Boyd) discloses apparatus for securing a load in the back of a truck that includes a pair of rails secured to the top of the sides of the truck. A panel extends between the rails and is pivotable between an up position and a down position. In the down position, the panel extends from the rails downwardly towards the bottom or bed of the truck. In the up position, the panel is moved 180 degrees from its down position and accordingly extends upwardly from the side rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,899 (Keys) discloses divider apparatus for dividing the bed of a pickup truck. The apparatus comprises a panel which may be disposed either immediately behind or immediately in front of the wheel wells on the bed of a pickup truck. The divider apparatus includes a secondary space which is relatively narrow and immediately adjacent to the main transverse panel.
Of the above discussed patents, only the applicant's own '730 patent discloses a use of multiple panels for dividing the cargo area of a truck into a plurality of different compartments. All of the other patents simply utilize a single panel that may be moved relative to the truck bed to divide the truck bed into two compartments, a compartment on each side of the transverse panel.